Bill Gates-backed history course now free online

Bill Gates-backed history course now free online

PUBLISHED: 0 HOUR 8 MINUTES AGO | UPDATE: 0 HOUR 0 MINUTES AGO

TIM DODD

The Big History Project, the story of the past on the largest possible canvas, is now available as a free online course. Big History was originally a university course taught at Macquarie University by its inventor, historian David Christian. It spans the history of the universe from the big bang until now, explaining how galaxies, stars and planets came to be, and then how life evolved and eventually led to humanity. It also glimpses into where our future history may be heading. Five years ago, when Bill Gates heard about it, he paid for the development of a big history high- school course, which is now being piloted in schools in Australia and the US. His support has led to this MOOC, which is pitched at a level suitable for junior high school and older. It takes six to eight hours to complete. Read more of this post

Tony Hsieh’s Brilliant Strategy For Hiring Kind People

Tony Hsieh’s Brilliant Strategy For Hiring Kind People

MAX NISEN NOV. 22, 2013, 2:14 PM 9,229 6

With all of the focus on finding technology talent and bridging the skills gap, it’s easy for small business owners to forget the most important thing is hiring good, kind people you enjoy spending time with. A great lesson on how to do that comes from Zappos, which is already well known for the lengths it goes to maintain its focus on customer service and a positive company culture. It even designed its new headquarters in Las Vegas with its culture firmly in mind. Read more of this post

Want to get rich? Read fiction; 5 financial lessons from Dickens, Tolstoy, Eliot, and other novelists

Nov. 23, 2013, 7:55 a.m. EST

Want to get rich? Read fiction

5 financial lessons from Dickens, Tolstoy, Eliot, and other novelists

By Jeremy Olshan

In times of money trouble, smart people turn to a financial adviser — or, if the creditors, repo men and SEC are already pounding at the door, a spiritual one, perhaps. I read books.

By this I don’t mean anything like “The Science of Getting Rich,” “The Automatic Millionaire,” or the countless similar titles adorning many an Ikea bookshelf. No, I’m talking about fiction. Novels. Nineteenth century novels, mainly. Dickens is my financial adviser. I’d rather spend an hour with Edith Wharton than with any graduate of Wharton. Read more of this post

The Brain’s Ways of Dealing With Friends and Strangers; In a new book, Harvard psychologist Joshua Greene shows how different parts of the brain are active in different social situations.

The Brain’s Way Of Dealing With ‘Us’ and ‘Them’

Nov. 22, 2013 7:20 p.m. ET

A tribe of shepherds brings its sheep to graze at a common field. Every shepherd limits the size of his herd to avoid overgrazing the commons—except for one selfish guy who doesn’t care. What should be done to solve this problem? Now consider two rival tribes of shepherds being forced to share the same field. In one tribe, the herd is communally owned, while the second tribe would divide the field into fenced plots belonging to each individual. What should be done to reconcile these two different views? Read more of this post

Yuri Milner: billionaire investor on leaving Russia, investing in Twitter and Facebook, and turning scientists into celebrities.

Weekend Confidential: Yuri Milner

The billionaire investor on leaving Russia, investing in Twitter and Facebook, and turning scientists into celebrities

ALEXANDRA WOLFE

Nov. 22, 2013 7:33 p.m. ET

As a young dropout from a Ph.D. program in physics, Yuri Milner had no special ambitions to start a technology company in his native Russia. He worked in finance for a few years before coming across a 1999 report by Morgan Stanley MS +1.46% analyst Mary Meeker, describing the tech boom in the U.S. and how the industry was starting to grow in Europe. Read more of this post

Despite the doubters, Doctor Who celebrates its 50th birthday, strengthening its claim to be the most successful show in the history of the BBC

November 22, 2013 7:50 pm

The Doctor regenerates into global cashcow

By Henry Mance

Mary Whitehouse called it “teatime brutality”; a television executive said it had “no redeeming features” and some parents worried it was becoming too sexy. Yet despite the doubters, Doctor Who celebrates its 50th birthday on Saturday, strengthening its claim to be the most successful show in the history of the BBC. Scrapped by the broadcaster 24 years ago before being relaunched in 2005, it is at the forefront of efforts to sell BBC content to the world.

Read more of this post

A colorful entrepreneur named Andrew Paulson wants to turn chess into the world’s next mass-market spectator sport, complete with commentators who dissect the action and show potential moves

November 23, 2013

For Chess, a Would-Be White Knight

By MATT RICHTEL

If chess were storytelling, Andrew Paulson would be the undisputed world champion, the Bobby Fischer of raconteurs. Not a moment of his rich life is not made richer by Mr. Paulson’s recounting, whether it be working in a science lab at Johns Hopkins University at age 11; his decision to come out at Yale, which he says inspired other gay students to do the same; the brutal murder of two colleagues in Russia who he says he suspects were KGB officers; the playwrights he has inspired; and, of course, his hard-fought business successes, as an American who became a Moscow media personality and pioneer. Read more of this post

Backpacker of 30 years says KL is most dangerous place he has ever been to

Backpacker of 30 years says KL is most dangerous place he has ever been to

Stomp | Thu, Nov 21 2013

A backpacker from the United Kingdom has visited countries like Africa and Yemen, but picks Kuala Lumpur as the most dangerous place he has ever been to. Dave Ramsay had related his experience about being stabbed and mugged in the city on travel site Virtual Tourist. The incident took place near Hard Rock Cafe in Jalan Sultan Ismail on Oct 5. Dave was stabbed in the chest and then slashed across the arm with a knife, before the robber fled with his bag. Dave said there was no regard for his life since he was attacked before being robbed, instead of the other way round. However, his ordeal did not end there. Not only did it take 30 minutes to reach a hospital as most taxis did not stop for him after seeing blood, police were also ineffective and inefficient. According to Dave, security at local venues did nothing. Tourist police also did not ask anything about the robber and only produced a report for an insurance claim, making the victim feel they had no interest in pursuing the criminal. Dave even called the tourist police office a “conveyor belt of victims coming in”. “This place needs avoiding big time. I have travelled to Africa, Yemen, and SE Asia for nearly 30 years and I am not a squeamish person but I genuinely believe this to be the most dangerous place I have been to, due to the vast number of incidents and the frequency of them. It’s epidemic,” wrote Dave.

Woman seeks fame with a face like Chairman Mao

Woman seeks fame with a face like Chairman Mao

Sunday, November 24, 2013 – 07:45

Reuters

MIANYANG, China – Chen Yan waves at a crowd of onlookers bemused at seeing China’s late helmsman, Mao Zedong, brought back to life by a middle-aged woman. Chen, 51, from Mianyang, in China’s southwestern province of Sichuan, has been dressing up as Mao since she was discovered on a local TV show in 2005 impersonating another actor who had played Mao in movies. Read more of this post